Treating Weight-Related Ailments Costs $93B Per Year, Study Says

The costs of treating obesity-related health problems in the United States total $93 billion each year, half of which is paid for by Medicare and Medicaid, according to a study published May 14 on the Health Affairs Web site, USA Today reports (Hellmich, USA Today, 5/14). The study, funded by the CDC and based on data from 9,867 adults ages 19 and older, found that average annual health care costs for obese people are $732 higher per year, or 37.4% more, than medical costs for people with normal weights, the AP/Detroit News reports (Meckler, AP/Detroit News, 5/14). Obesity is defined as having a body mass index -- body weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters -- of 30 or higher. A BMI of 25 to 30 is considered overweight (Connolly, Washington Post, 5/14). About 66% of people in the United States are overweight or obese (USA Today, 5/14). The study only calculated direct medical expenditures because of obesity, not indirect costs, such as lost productivity (Washington Post, 5/14). Treating obese Medicare beneficiaries costs $1,486 more per person per year than treating a beneficiary with a normal weight, according to the study. In addition, the study says that the cost of treating obese Medicaid beneficiaries is $864 more per person per year than the cost of treating beneficiaries with normal weights. Costs for treating privately insured obese people are $423 higher per person per year than for people with normal weights (Health Affairs release, 5/14).

Response
"There has been a debate about whether obesity is a personal or societal issue and whether the government has any business being involved," Eric Finkelstein, a study author and an RTI International researcher, said, adding, "The fact that the government, and ultimately the taxpayer, is financing half the economic burden of obesity suggests that the government has a clear justification to try to reduce obesity rates" (Washington Post, 5/14). Anne Wolf of the University of Virginia Medical School said, "The government is going to get slam-dunked in future obesity costs if it doesn't address the problem now. As the population ages and the prevalence of obesity continues to rise, Medicare is going to be picking up the health care tab for these people" (USA Today, 5/14). Finkelstein added, "Obesity is something as costly to society as smoking, yet the government and private health insurers have done very little to reduce obesity rates" (Washington Post, 5/14). Annual obesity-related medical spending accounts for about 9.1% of national medical costs, while medical spending related to smoking ranges from 6.5% to 14.4%, USA Today reports (USA Today, 5/14). The study notes that as smoking and obesity have comparable financial costs, "it may be increasingly difficult to justify the disparity between the many interventions that have been implemented to reduce smoking rates and the paucity of interventions aimed at reducing obesity rates," the Post reports (Washington Post, 5/14). The study is available online.